34 VALUE OF FIRST-GENEBATION HYBRIDS IX CORN. 



Careful seedsmen who wish to extend the range of territory to which 

 they can supply seed that will be equal or superior to the best locally 

 selected seed should be willmg to give careful consideration to the 

 possibility of establishing regular supplies of first-generation hvt)rid 

 seed for their customers. "^ 



FIRST-GENERATION HYBRIDS IN SWEET CORN. ^g_ 



While the production of sweet corn is influenced b}' very difTerent 

 considerations from the production of field corn, the evidence at hand 

 indicates that the advantages of first-generation hybrids apply to 

 sweet corn with even greater force than to field corn. 



In sweet corn, as with field corn, the yield is an important item, and 

 the experimental data here presented warrant the statement that the 

 yield can be very materially increased by means of first-generation 

 hybrids. 



With sweet corn, however, the }'ield is not the only consideration; 

 quality and uniformity are important factors that must be taken 

 into consideration. As regards quality, the evidence indicates that 

 in most cases it wall be intermediate between that of the parents. If 

 parents of good quality are chosen, the quality of the hybrid will be 

 satisfactory. The proof of this rests not alone on the few cases 

 where the quality of the first generation of crosses of sweet-corn 

 varieties has been recorded, but on the general fact that the morpho- 

 logical characters of the first generation of crosses in corn are almost 

 always intermediate between those of the parents. With respect to 

 uniformity it may be said that experiments in crossing sweet varieties 

 have not been recorded in such a way as to give direct evidence. 

 On the other hand, experiments in the crossing of field corns make 

 it certain that in this class, with properly chosen varieties, a perfectly 

 satisfactors' degree of uniformity can be secured. The first genera- 

 tion of a cross is usually quite as uniform as the parent strains, a 

 condition natural!}' to be expected in view of the general tendency 

 for all morphological characters to appear intermediate in the first 

 generation. While the strict uniformity requii-ed in score-card rat- 

 ings may not be assured, it is altogether probable that the uniformity 

 of size, color, shape, and time of maturing required by the market 

 will be fully met if reasonabh-^ uniform strains are selected as parents. 



The important differences between sweet and field corn in the 

 commercial methods of producing and handling seed are all of a 

 nature to make the application of this })rinciple more effective with 

 sweet corn than with field corn. A much larger percentage of sweet- 

 corn than of field-corn growers buy their seed, a practice that is 

 much to be regretted where pure strains are used, since the lack of 



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